Page 6 - HME Business, April 2020

News / Trends / Analysis
AAHomecare Draws Roadmap for 2020 During Revamped Medtrade Spring Update
Association leaders shared updates on legislation, the standard written order process, payer relations and AAHomecare’s plans to add members and increase its operating budget.
Drawing strong turnout and participation from attendees, the American Association for Homecare debuted a new format of
its AAHomecare Update at the annual Medtrade Spring conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
HME Business editor David Kopf was on hand
to facilitate conversation between AAHomecare leaders, including president and CEO Tom Ryan, senior vice president of policy Jay Witter, vice pres- ident of regulatory affairs Kim Brummett and vice president of payer relations Laura Williard. Rather than showcasing the HME industry’s accomplish- ments through a fast-paced presentation, Ryan said in a podcast interview with HME Business
that AAHomecare sought to increase interaction between its leadership and audience members.
During the event, he pointed to the association’s new ambassador program and engagement efforts as signs that AAHomecare is poised to accomplish its goal of growing its budget by $1 million over the next year.
“Our mission is getting much larger in scope, and we need more resources for AAHomecare if
we are going to succeed,” Ryan said. “A budget
of $3.5 million is not enough for the primary advo- cacy organization representing a $50 to 60 billion industry. A larger budget will help us fight the head- winds facing this industry, including unsustainable reimbursements.”
Witter, who leads the association’s legislative work on Capitol Hill and on the state level, high- lighted AAHomecare’s work to ensure the passage of legislation protecting CRT manual accesso-
ries from competitive bidding. The association
is still lobbying for two bills to provide rural and non-bid area relief as well as remove non-invasive ventilators from competitive bidding, he added.
The newly updated AAHomecare Update at Medtrade Spring featured an interview style format with HME Business publisher and editor David Kopf (far left)
and more Q&A with audience members and the AAHomecare executive team (starting left from Kopf) Tom Ryan, Laura Williard, Kim Brummett and Jay Witter.
Thanks to the expiration of Medicare “extender” legislation on May 22, the HME industry may have an opportunity to attach those measures to a larger bill. Witter noted that a “stand-alone bill rarely passes,” and pointed to the association’s success
in attaching the CRT legislation to an end-of-year spending package.
The legislative environment for the HME industry has shifted dramatically since Witter joined the association, when legislative aides were concerned about “fraud” among providers and businesses. Now, many legislators can be counted on to co-sponsor bills supporting the industry.
“A decade ago, we had a much different environ- ment on the Hill,” Witter said. “We had very few cham- pions...I have not heard the ‘fraud’ word in years.”
Kim Brummett, vice president of regulatory affairs, addresses the Standard Written Order process during the event.
Other significant changes facing the industry
include the new Standard Written Order (SWO) process, which was meant to simplify regulatory requirements for providers. Brummett called it the “largest documentation change we’ve seen in our industry,” and one that comes with its own set of complications.
“It’s not as simple as CMS thinks it is,” Brummett said. “It took us a year to figure out the 5 EO and now it’s gone.”
While the association is still waiting on answers to questions it sent to CMS and DME MACs, Brummett said she remains “pretty psyched” about the SWO process. She hopes that CMS will publish a FAQ document and an updated “required list” to help providers implement the new system.
Amid questions from the audience, Williard also discussed the association’s payer relations program and how the association’s new Payer Relations Council is working to address providers’ issues with Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).
Because states receive a “bucket of money” to manage their Medicaid programs, HME providers need to be proactive and make their priorities known to state leadership, Williard said.
“We have to be sure we are at the table to help them manage that bucket of money,” Williard said. “The fear is that they will reduce reimbursement...We have an opportunity to go out and sell ourselves.”
As AAHomecare looks forward to the rest of 2020, Ryan said that the association’s mission has only gotten larger as the industry has evolved.
“The non-believers had a perception that we were just one lane in D.C.,” Ryan said. “We’ve been working on the state payor issues. We are every- where. We are in your hometown ... If you’re a non- believer, it’s our job to get you to be a believer.”
market today, their adoption is “expected to falter” in the future due to their “cumbersome design.”
“In an effort to provide healthcare in non- hospital settings, manufacturers are turning to portable and disposable NPWT devices,” the report reads. “Although these devices are gaining momentum, canisters would continue to be the flagship product in the negative pressure wound therapy market.”
Negative wound pressure therapy typically involves the use of vacuum suction and dressing to drain out fluids caused by inflammation and drive blood flow to the wound area to improve
(continues)
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Expected To Grow Past $3 Billion By 2029
The expansion of the NPWT market will likely be caused by higher demand for single-use disposable devices.
Growth in the U.S. negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) market will be driven by the use of disposable NPWT devices, according to a new report from Future Market Insights.
The study found that the North American market, which is dominated by the United States, will grow to $3.2 billion by 2029, largely due to the
6 HMEBusiness | April 2020 | hme-business.com
overall growth of single-use disposable devices. Researchers found that manufacturers are increas- ingly focused on introducing portable NPWT prod- ucts that target consumers in different settings, including hospitals and homecare settings.
Researchers wrote that while NPWT accesso- ries such as canisters account for 50 percent of the
Management Solutions | Technology | Products